The Urgency of this Message! Un Llamado!

(New York–May 14, 2013) In May 2008 Renzo Devia and Alicia Anabel Santos started a journey that no one has embarked on before. They set out to travel throughout every country in Latin America to study and document Afro Latino communities. The mission was to learn extensively about the culture and history and share their findings with the world.

Renzo has over 17 years of experience producing television and Alicia is an acclaimed writer. They started producing a documentary series of seven parts in two languages covering all aspects of Afrolatino history and culture. Each episode has a theme, such as History, Religion, Music Dance, Gastronomy and Social Issues.

Some of the objectives for this project are to bring attention and improve the living conditions of Afrolatinos, to stop racial discrimination and assist with the fight against social injustices and exclusion in Latin America, and change the history books.

Alicia and Renzo entitled the series Afrolatinos: The Untaught Story because of the dire need to create a project that celebrated a history that is not found in history books in Latin America. This was a part of the Latino story that was not being passed down. Slavery is a subject barely grazed throughout many of the texts often excluding the fullness of this complex topic. Many Latinos do not know their African roots or anything about Africa. This series goes in depth, covering information such as the ethnic groups that arrived to Latin America and the labor these men, women and children contributed to the building of Latin America. Afrolatinos explores the significant role women played during the enslavement and battles for independence during the eighteenth century.

The project is nearly complete. With 70% of the series edited, hundreds of interviews conducted, thousands of images shot, and tons of research completed, Renzo and Alicia have hit a wall. Renzo Devia’s production company, Creador Pictures LLC has independently financed the entire project. Over $200k has been invested and there are no funds remaining to complete the project.

The Afrolatinos team has created a huge following across the Americas and the web, however they are still lacking financial support. At the moment they are raising funds though indiegogo.com

WWW.AFROLATINOS.TV has been the portal for this project and all things Afro Latino. On the site you can find information on each country, team vlogs, resources, organization links by country, music downloads, pictures, videos and much more.

There is a sense of urgency to get this project on the air in order to spread awareness of social issues effecting Afro Latino communities. Alicia and Renzo recognize that Afrolatinos is a lifetime commitment and have been dedicated to this work for many years. The Afrolatinos campaign, UN LLAMADO, is a call to action for the community so that this story can get on the air and they can continue to teach the world all that they have learned.